Week Three: Thoughts on the Millennium Goals

This week the class really concentrated on different issues that are considered the biggest eight that almost all of social entrepreneurs concentrate on. Through class discussion and simply listening to the lecture, it was interesting to find out that all of these issues are not interdependent. One cannot see the broad issue of "AIDS" and see this as the only issue. For example, in many places in Africa AIDS are so common and are everywhere because of the fact that there is extreme poverty. This poverty hinders big nation wide messages from being able to spread because there are not televisions in every home, not even power for that matter. The governments have to worry more about how to get the people the basic needs, so things like condom education and safe sex information is on the back burner. Thinking about this makes me realize that, as with most situations like this, the problem is circular. Poverty is contributed to by these people who are getting sick, not being able to work, which is draining some of the health care systems money-money is going out to these people who did not have to get into this situation in the first place. I can definitely see how a social entrepreneur would be needed here. There needs to be someone to look at this situation and see it from a different angle. There needs to be people who see this as an opportunity, not an impossible situation. It brings me back to one of my classmate's comments about how these things need to be addressed in a grassroots manner. This is the idea that big issues have to be encountered from the ground up, not from the top to the bottom. The concepts which generate change cannot just be demanded by a government, but have to take place in a daily form to change the way the community feels. I really found this week to be enlightening.